Friday, October 5, 2007

bumpy & lumpy: no air!

Because I’m such a dedicated follower of fashion, I thought it would be fun to record a little extreme makeover of the Blocking Sort.

What you see above is the sea of raw knitting that is the lace piece I’ve been working on (Miss Dashwood). The yarn is Wensleydale Longwool and in its primary stitched state is both puffy, hairy and more than a little wild looking.

But I’m a believer! Seeing the wonderful blocking pictures of lace knitters online has made me a forever finisher.

My 1st tool of choice in the finishing list is my steam iron. Paired with its padded board, things snap-to rather quickly.

Here’s a view from the wrong side of the piece; on the left is the bumpy rumpy unironed side. On the right, is a slightly steamed side that’s starting to come into flatness.

I use the iron just floating above the fabric; never touch. Never scrub. Just steam as close as possible to the surface.

Up on the mannequin, the new improved, well behaved fabric.

But of course, this can be accomplished via soaking or spraying with water, then pinning out but in many cases, a nice little session with the iron meets its match and saves lots and lots of time because the piece does not have to dry out. And here is where lace garments differ from shawls: they need finishing to open up the stitch lovliness but not the *pulled* state most shawls need to achieve their final dimensions.

This is well on its way to becoming my Christmas Party Wear. I have to start looking for a top to wear with it…